Wet grinder

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (August 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Wet grinders are very popular tools in the South Indian kitchen used to make paste out of soaked grains and lentils.

At one time, a manual wet grinder consisted of a large stone with a hole in it, where a cylindrical stone with a wooden handle fit in. The grain and lentil mixture was poured in with water and the cylinder rotated by the handle on the top to grind the food together. The ground paste is used for various food items like idli, dosa, sevai and vada.

The evolution of grinders have a dramatic change in the working. The earlier form of wet grinder called "Attan Kallu" used mechanical energy in which the user has to rotate the top stone called "Kullavi" to grind the medium.

Automation has led to the invention of electric-powered wet grinders. By this invention, the powered wet grinders have both the top and the base stone rotating. These electric models were first introduced in restaurants and later moved into the home.

Popular brands include:

  • Ponmani Wet Grinders
  • Sowbaghya Wet Grinder
  • Santha Tilting Wet grinders
  • Premier Grinder
  • SPL wet grinders
  • Maruthi wet grinders

Most modern models still have stone components for the grinding action. The stone is usually granite stone. The old manual grinding stones used to be refinished for better results. Modern stones usually don't need refinishing and they last much longer.

However, despite these advances in bringing modern engineering into Indian kitchens, there are limitations. A few companies have been noticed to manufacture inferior products that are not robust enough and often fail. This forces the consumer to go back to the old-fashion grinding stone. *Mantra Tabletop Grinder - Coimbatore Is one such product. These companies are unregulated and there are a large number of anonymous manufacturers who take up this work and do not produce it to standards.